Fostering and promoting interest in Swedish

folk dance and music traditions in Australia.

Linnéa is based in Sydney, Australia and performs traditional dances from Sweden and

neighbouring countries.  We are the only Swedish folk dance group in Australia and have

been active for over 25 years.  The group appears regularly at Swedish community

celebrations and business functions, as well as at various multicultural, dance and folk

music festivals.  Linnéa also organises an annual festival of Nordic folk dance, music and

song in Sydney called Nordfest.  

We are an active, fun and sociable group made up of Swedes, Finns, Estonians and

more – including ‘ordinary Australians’.  New members are most welcome – you don’t have

to be Swedish or an experienced dancer, bring a partner or own a costume ! 

Background and brief history

Nordfest - Nordic Folkloric Festival

Contact Graeme Traves +61-2-9874 4194 /  linneafolk@hotmail.com
 

Background and brief history
Linnéa Swedish Folkdancers (‘Linnéa Folkdanslag’ in Swedish) are an amateur folkloric

group based in Sydney, Australia –  performing traditional and modern folk dances from

Sweden and its Nordic neighbours.  It is the only Swedish folk dance group in Australia

and was founded over 25 years ago by Dr Gullan Kjellgren-Cyriax, who named the group

after a Swedish wildflower (in turn named after the Swedish botanist Linnæus).  

Over the years, the group has appeared regularly at Swedish community gatherings, such

as National Day, Midsummer and Lucia celebrations and at various multicultural festivals.

Linnéa has also visited Swedish communities in Canberra and Melbourne and performed at

numerous Swedish business functions – dancing at corporate events for IKEA, Volvo and

OM Technology and even performing Swedish Christmas carols at IKEA.  The group has

also hosted several visiting Swedish folk dance groups – the most recent being Skåne

Folkdanslag from southern Sweden in 1999.

In 1993, Linnéa met Canberra's Revontulet Finnish Folk-Dancers and this led to combined

performances in both Canberra and Sydney over subsequent years.  The connection with

Revontulet later led to Linnéa performing with the same musicians – Salmiakki Pelimannit

from Newcastle.  

Linnéa travelled to Linköping, Sweden in 1994 to participate in the massive triennial

Nordic folk dance and music festival Nordlek.  There the group joined dancers and

musicians from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Finland, Norway and of course

Sweden in a week of dance displays, concerts and workshops.  

These collaborative experiences were in a sense the beginnings of what has now become a

regular activity for Linnéa – the staging of an annual Nordic folkloric festival in Sydney. The

first Nordfest held in 2000 was a resounding success and the festival is now a two-day

event.  At Nordfest 2003, Linnéa welcomed the first overseas participants to the

festival – Kitka Finnish Folk Dancers from Upplands Väsby in Sweden.

In recent years, Linnéa has collaborated with the Estonian dance group Virmalised and

joined with other communities to stage a Scandinavian-Baltic dance performance called

‘Dances of the North’ in 2001.  The following year, the group co-hosted the visiting Finnish

dance and vocal groups Pitko and Akkasikko from Helsinki and staged a further combined

Nordic performance.

Since 2001, Linnéa has also taken part in the National Folk Festival in Canberra, presenting

Swedish folk dance displays and workshops.  In 2002, the group collaborated with

Virmalised, Salmiakki Pelimannit, the Estonian vocal group Lõke, and the Norwegian and

Finnish singers Marit Sehl and Elina Juusola-Halonen to present a 90-minute Nordic 

olkloric show entitled ‘Northern Lives’ at both the National Folk Festival and Nordfest.

Nordfest - Nordic Folkloric Festival

Nordfest is an annual celebration of folk culture from the Nordic countries held in Sydney,

Australia and is organised and hosted by Linnéa Swedish Folkdancers.  It is a unique

meeting place for anyone interested or active in Nordic folk traditions in Australia and

typically gathers around 70 dancers, singers and musicians from Sydney, regional NSW,

Canberra and Brisbane for a weekend of interaction, inspiration and enjoyment. 

The first Nordic Folkloric Festival was a single day of performances and workshops back

in 2000.   Nordfest has since grown into a two-day affair spanning two venues with

concerts, major performances, workshops and more.  In 2002 we expanded our focus,

welcoming the Estonian community to Nordfest for the first time.  At Nordfest 2003, we

were proud to present our first ever international festival participants – in the form of Kitka

Finnish Folk Dancers from Upplands Väsby in Sweden.  

Like the traditional Scandinavian gatherings of folk musicians and dancers on which it is

modelled, the main focus of Nordfest is on the involvement of its participants. It is

naturally also our aim to make Nordic folk culture more visible and accessible for those

from the broader Australian community, and to provide an opportunity for anyone with

an interest in Nordic folk music, dance and song to become actively involved.  

Linnéa Links

Contact Graeme Traves +61-2-9874 4194 / nordfest@hotmail.com